"Back again, huh? And they said it couldn't be done."

Eva held the ends of the sleeves of her hoodie in her hands as she curled up in the corner of one of the seats on the train. Her prefect badge was sat proudly on her top, glimmering slightly in the light beaming through the windows of the train.

"Quibbler?" Luna offered as she made her way through the train. "Excuse me, Draco Malfoy," she said lightly, squeezing past Draco who was adjusting his luggage in the overhead compartment. "Oh Eva, hello."

Pansy, sitting opposite Eva, scoffed, while Blaise, who was sat beside Pansy, openly rolled his eyes. "Hey Luna," Eva greeted, ignoring her stuck-up housemates. "How was your summer?"

"You have an odd glimmer in your eyes," Luna commented vaguely. "Something dark is brewing within you. She's gorgeous." She pointed to Draco Jr., pretending what she'd just said wasn't weird at all. "They sing on Boxing Day, you know. Quibbler?"

Eva blinked, slightly bewildered, but took a copy from her anyway. "What is the Quibbler anyway? I've never heard of half of this stuff. Wrackspurts?"

"Little creatures, they tend to float around in your ears and make your brain go fuzzy," Luna explained. "The Quibbler's an alternative voice for the wizarding world," she leaned in to murmur, "away from the Ministry's influence. My father's the editor. This issue comes with a free pair of Spectrespecs, like mine." She pointed to the pair of glasses on her head and then continued down the train carriage. "Quibbler?"

"You bond with some of the strangest people in this school," Draco remarked, checking something in the inside pocket of his blazer.

Just as Eva began to shuffle out from her chair, her vision was suddenly completely cut out. Everything was plunged into intangible darkness and, from the sounds of things, everyone else in the carriage was experiencing the same thing.

"What the hell?" She blindly walked straight into something solid. "Crap, did I walk into someone?" she asked, awkwardly trying to tell who it was in front of her without potentially violating some random child.

"You walked into me," Draco snapped, twisting from side to side confusedly. "What was that? Blaise? Pansy?"

"Where's my name on that list?" Eva snarked.

Just as their vision began to return, she could see Draco standing above her with one arm around her shoulders, holding her flat against him. He rolled his eyes. "You're right here. How confused do you think I am?"

Pansy was still sitting back in her seat, observing her nails now that the natural daylight was returning. "Relax, it was probably just a first year messing around. Come on, sit down, we'll be at Hogwarts soon."

Now that the commotion was over, Eva crawled back into her seat in the corner and slid her trainers off so that they landed haphazardly on the floor around their table. Once Draco had sat down beside her, she stretched her legs out over his lap and he instinctively placed his hands over her legs.

"Why are you so cold?" Draco asked her, but all that Eva could offer in response was a shrug. "Hogwarts, what a pathetic excuse for a school.

"Finished with bullying first years, now the amazing ferret boy is bullying the actual school itself," Eva teased.

Rather than argue with her, he simply rolled his eyes. "I think I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I thought I'd have to continue for another two years."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pansy asked.

"It means school sucks and he's over education and life," Eva concluded, holding Draco Jr. between her palms so that she could roll back and forth in her hands.

Draco glanced out of the window. "Let's just say I don't think there's going to be wasting my time with Charms class next year." Blaise sniggered under his breath. "Amused, Blaise? We'll see just who's laughing in the end."

There was an awkward silence for a moment as everyone took in what he'd said. If anything, Eva kind of agreed with him that, all things considered, things like school and Charms class were a bit of a waste of time, but the way he'd phrased it seemed unnecessarily dark.

"Um, on a lighter note," Eva placed her Pygmy Puff down on the table so that she could roll around freely, "let's play a game of Guess Eva's OWL Results. Some are surprising, but some . . . aren't."

"You failed Potions, didn't you?" Draco asked, clearly trying to hide a grin.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked. "Guess my grade, I dare you."

"Poor," Blaise said.

Pansy laughed to herself for a moment. "Troll."

Draco sighed. "Dreadful," he guessed.

Eva bit down on her lip to stop herself from smiling too hard. "Outstanding."

Pansy dropped the bottle of perfume she'd been spraying so that it fell on the table and then rolled off onto the carpeted floor. "What?" she said slowly, almost angrily.

Eva nodded while she attempted to somehow contain her excitement. "I guess I somehow did really well in the Theory Exam? I don't know, but I officially exceeded all of Snape's low expectations for me."

Draco turned his head to her and raised an eyebrow. "You got an O in Potions?" he asked sceptically.

"Here, see for yourself." She reached into her bag and quickly pulled out the envelope containing her OWL results.

Pulling the letter out of the envelope, Draco unfolded the parchment and his eyes scanned over what was written. As he reached nearer to the bottom, the corners of his lips twitched into one of his rare genuine smiles.

He folded it up again and slid it neatly into the envelope, sliding it back over to her. "I suppose I'll be in your NEWT classes this year from the looks of things."

"D'you fail anything?" Blaise asked her, his head lazily leaning back against the headrest of his seat.

"Divination," she admitted, "but I can't say I'm surprised. I was never quite able to 'open the inner eye' or 'broaden my mind' or any of that other shit Trelawney rambled on about. Did Firenze like your dream journal by the way?" she asked Draco.

He scoffed. "I barely scraped a pass in the subject, so I assume he liked mine more than yours. That was the first time I'd achieved anything under Exceeds Expectations."

"Oh, you poor thing, being a smart arse must be so hard," she cooed teasingly, rubbing his arm. With a sneer, he pulled away and crossed his arms stubbornly in front of him.


Once the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, Eva could already see the faint light of Hagrid's lamp as he prepared to escort the first years into the boats towards the school. Their carriage, which was mostly occupied by Slytherins, slowly gathered their belongings and began to shuffle out of the train towards the platform.

After helping two first years carry their stupidly heavy suitcase off the train, Eva rejoined Draco, Blaise, and Pansy, ready to leave. She had her bag over her shoulder and her shoes were held in her left hand because she was too lazy to actually wear them, but Draco was still sitting down in his seat with his chin resting on his palm.

"You coming or what?" Eva asked, holding out her hand for him to take.

He glanced up at her briefly and shook his head. "You guys go on. I wanna check something."

With a sigh, Eva reluctantly followed Pansy and Blaise off the train. Once they reached the platform, the three of them stood around for a few moments, hoping that Draco wouldn't take long, but then the blinds of the train windows were pulled down and it became clear that he was going to take a short while longer than they'd planned.

Blaise rolled his eyes and adjusted his coat over his shoulders. "Come on, let's go." He and Pansy started along the platform but stopped a few metres away from her. "Infernum, you coming?"

Eva shrugged. "I'll wait, I have nowhere to be anyway."

Pansy sighed and started off out of the station, followed by Blaise who had his hands in his pockets. The time ticked on for a few minutes and Eva found herself pacing back and forth in one spot, although her feet still weren't cold since she was wearing such a thick pair of socks. She kept her hand on her wand in her pocket, the darkness of her surroundings making her feel a little uneasy.

Finally, the train door was pulled open and Draco stepped out onto the platform, causing the Pygmy Puff on her shoulder to squeak excitedly. He glanced up at Eva and raised an eyebrow. "You waited?"

"I wasn't exactly in a rush," she replied, taking his arm and walking back along with him. "What took you so long by the way?"

"I had some business to take care of," he responded vaguely.

Once they reached the gates of the school grounds, it seemed that everyone had already left on the Thestral carriages without them. Flitwick was standing by the tall gate with a scroll in front of him while Filch searched through a tall pile of luggage. Eva could see both hers and Draco's belongings near the top, including both of their owls, suitcases, and even her skateboard which she occasionally rode in Hogsmeade.

"Finally," Flitwick said, startling them, "that's two more off my list. Names?"

Eva glanced over at Draco, who seemed just as confused as she was. "Um, Eva Infernum and Draco Malfoy," she replied with her eyebrows drawn together. "Don't you already know us by this point? You've taught us since we were 11."

Flitwick peered at them over the top of his register as he ticked their names off. "No exceptions."

Draco rolled his eyes impatiently and led the way off down the long path which wouldn't have taken nearly as long to travel had they been in the carriages instead. Not even a minute into their walk, Filch stopped them.

"Oi, you there!" he yelled hoarsely. "You with the red hair, and you with the blonde! Get over here!"

Eva sighed and began to drag Draco along while he stubbornly dragged his heels. "Come on, mister," she laughed, trying to sound encouraging.

"So close yet so far," he muttered, glancing longingly over his shoulder.

"This." Filch pulled Eva's skateboard out from the pile of luggage and turned his nose up at it. "What is it?"

"It's a skateboard," Eva explained. "It has wheels on the bottom so you can stand on it and use it to travel, kinda like a broomstick for muggles I guess."

With a shrug, he threw it back into the pile and then picked up something that looked oddly familiar to Eva. It took her a moment to realise it was Lucius' walking stick. She could recognise that silver snake head anywhere, especially since she'd almost lost her fingers with that thing several times.

"What's this cane here, then?" Filch sneered.

"It's not a cane, you cretin," Draco snapped, "it's a walking stick."

"And what exactly would you be wanting with a walking stick?" Filch asked. "Could be construed as an offensive weapon."

Eva pinched the bridge of her nose. "We're in a school full of people with wands that can be used to kill others, and you're worried about a walking stick?"

Snape suddenly appeared beside them, his black robes billowing unnecessarily around him. "It's alright, Mr. Filch," he drawled. "I can vouch for Mr. Malfoy."

Once Filch nodded in agreement, Draco didn't hesitate to harshly snatch Lucius' walking stick away from him and pull Eva away from the caretaker. Just as they were leaving, he glanced behind him.

"Nice face, Potter," he spat.

Confused, Eva tried to turn her head to see what he was referencing, but Draco simply turned her around. "That filthy squib, who does he think he is? Questioning me about my own property?" he snarled under his breath.

"Don't change the subject, what were you talking about with Harry?" she asked.

"What?" Draco pretended to have not a clue. "I don't know what you're on about."

"Draco," she warned him.

He grumbled defeatedly. "Let's just say he gained what he deserved, not only for my father, but also for eavesdropping on conversations that don't concern him."

"I'm going to pretend that made sense," she sighed as they continued towards the castle.


During their start-of-year meal in the Great Hall, while Eva usually had a habit of rolling up her sleeves when she ate, this time she kept them down to hide her left arm. She knew it was inevitable that someone would find out sooner or later about her mark, but she just preferred the later option.

Throughout their meal, while Draco was usually quite bubbly around that time and was impossible to shut up, instead he was keeping himself quiet. Barely looking up at anyone, he half-heartedly picked at his slice of chicken pie, from which he'd only actually eaten a few small nibbles.

"You're not hungry?" Eva asked him, having already finished her cheesy jacket potato.

The serving dishes had already disappeared, and most students were just finishing the last of their food. With a shake of his head, Draco slid his still almost full plate over to her, offering for her to finish it for him. Rolling her eyes, she quickly finished his pie and placed the acceptably empty plate in front of him again.

"The very best of evenings to you all," Dumbledore began, quickly catching everyone's attention. "First off, let me introduce the newest member of our staff—Horace Slughorn."

The teacher Eva assumed to be Slughorn stood up and bowed slightly. The room started clapping nonchalantly, with a few not even bothering to do that, including Draco.

"Professor Slughorn, I'm happy to say, has agreed to resume his old post as Potions Master," Dumbledore announced. "Meanwhile, the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts will be taken by Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Eva asked as she clapped along with the other Slytherins.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Draco's reaction but found that he in fact wasn't paying attention, instead staring into the table. While Dumbledore continued his speech for a bit, she rubbed Draco's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Are you okay?" she whispered quietly.

He simply nodded, moving his head back to stare at the table and zone out of Dumbledore's welcome speech.

"Now, as you know," Dumbledore continued, "each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival here tonight, and you have the right to know why. Once there was a young man, who, like you, sat in this very hall, walked this castle's corridors, slept under its roof. He seemed, to all the world, a student like any other. His name? Tom Riddle."

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, as if something was crawling beneath her skin, Eva subtly rubbed her left arm as she recalled what he'd done to her that summer, the trauma he'd put her through just in an attempt to gain her powers for himself. The greedy bugger.

"Today, of course, he's known all over the world by another name, which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I'm reminded of a sobering fact," Dumbledore spoke. "Every day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls. But in the end, their greatest weapon is you. Just something to think about. Now, off to bed! Pip-pip!"

"That guy's nuts," Eva laughed to herself, as if trying to assure herself that none of what he'd just said mattered. "Dumbledore, I mean, but Voldemort too. Well, both in their own way. They're special snowflakes." She stood up from her seat and adjusted her skirt around her waist. "Coming, Draco?" she asked, offering her hand.

This time, he did take his hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. Standing up from his seat, they walked out of the Great Hall towards the Slytherin dungeons while Eva gazed longingly at that slice of chocolate fudge cake she'd never gotten to.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: I hate having Draco so sad that he can barely eat, but then again Eva finishing his food for him is a mood though haha. Also, the more I write about Draco Jr., the more I want a Pygmy Puff for myself omggg.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!